


Null and Void

by OreoLuvr13



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Gen, Measles, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 08:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19421923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OreoLuvr13/pseuds/OreoLuvr13
Summary: There's still a lot that Tony doesn't know about Peter's physiology after the bite. That becomes all the more clear after he gets an early phone call from a slightly panicking May Parker.





	Null and Void

**Author's Note:**

> No real reason behind this. Just that I was in the mood for some sick Peter and voila!

Peter lets out a frustrated grunt as he tries to get comfortable, kicking off his sheets because it’s just way too hot in here. Strange, he’s never hot. If anything, he tends to run cold now that his body struggles to thermoregulate ever since the bite. He reaches down for the now discarded sheet to wipe away his nose, stopping when he barks out a harsh cough. Man, he feels awful. He HATES getting sick. Luckily, he hasn’t gotten sick at all since the bite. But it feels like he’s making up for it now with this nasty cold he’s picked up. The congestion, runny nose, and cough started near the end of the previous school day and has only steadily gotten worse since. It even forced him to cut his patrol short the night before. His nose running non-stop making a gross mess under his mask. That alone was enough for him to call it quits much earlier than usual, but then add the deep exhaustion soaking his bone. He was home by nine and fell into a restless sleep soon after.  


“Peter, you awake?” May calls through the door.

Peter lets out a groan which turns into a cough. He coughs into this comforter in hopes of muffling the deep cough. The last thing he wants to do is make May worry.

“Pete, you okay?” May calls again. Even with his congested full head, Peter can hear the worry in his aunt’s voice.

“’M kay, May.” Peter tries to reassure his aunt, but knows he’s failed miserably when he hears his croaky voice. He grimaces when he clears his throat and in a stronger voice tells her, “Give me five minutes.”

“I’ll give you two,” May concedes. Her voice is still laced with worry, but not as much as earlier. Good. “If you’re not up, I’m coming in.”

Peter lets out a loud sigh. May’s two minutes is usually more like five anyway. He’ll take it. He snuggles into his pillow for the few minutes May gives him. But of course just as he’s about to fall back asleep, his door opens.

“All right, kid. Time’s up. It’s time to get up for school,” May says as she makes her way into his room. “Pete, you okay kiddo?”

Peter is just too tired to respond. He used the last of his energy reserves earlier when May tried waking him up. Instead of his words, he hopes a shrug of his shoulders will suffice.

May lets out a loud whistle. “Man it stinks in here!” Did you shower last night after patrol?” 

Peter shakes his head. As May’s light footsteps move across the room. She moves to the window, opening it to let some fresh in air into the stagnant room. “Phew, that’s better. Come on, Pete. Get up.”

But, Peter doesn’t. Instead he hikes his comforter up even farther when the cool air hits his overheated skin and the early morning sunlight hits him square in the face.

“Come on, Peter.” May says as she takes a seat next to the teenager on his bed. “You’re not feeling too hot, huh kid?”

Peter shakes his head.

“Oh, Pete,” May whispers as she tries to get him to come out from his cocoon of blankets. “What is it? Your head? You think you have a fever? Peter, come on. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

But the achiness in his muscles is so deep that he still can’t bring himself to even answer her and he’s too tired to resist her movements when she finally prevails and pulls the comforter away from his face.

“Hey, there we---What the hell!”

**XXXXX**

Even though it’s just before seven in the morning, Tony’s been hard at work on his newest inspiration for the last two hours. He has just finished his second cup of coffee when FRIDAY informs him that May is calling. He puts down his screwdriver. “FRI, has the kid been up to anything that would behind why Aunt Hottie is calling me this early? Any alerts from his suit?”

“Nothing has triggered any of the protocols you have programmed into Peter’s suit.”

Tony takes a sip of his coffee. “You sure, FRI? He didn’t catch himself in any spiderwebs? Miss curfew again?”

“Boss, May Parker hung up.”

“I’ll call her back. I just want to know what I’m dealing with first. So talk to me, FRI.”

May Parker doesn’t just call him to chat. There’s always a reason. _Peter was out until after one. You didn’t see the need to tell me my kid broke his wrist in three places. There’s no way in hell you’re taking my kid to Morocco, Stark. That kid at school is giving Peter a hard time again._

Yeah, before May Parker puts his balls a sling, he would rather know whether or not that it’s because of Peter’s Spider-Man activities.

“May Parker is calling again.”

Tony shakes his head. “Don’t worry about that. I'll call her back.Review with me what the kid was up to last night.”

“Stopped a purse snatching and helped a four-year old locate her mother on Shore Boulevard in Queens.”

Tony’s waiting for FRIDAY to continue, but the voice stops. “Is that it? That’s a quiet night for him? Did he get hurt?”

“That’s a negative. No injuries were detected and his biometrics were In normal levels when Peter’s suit went offline at exactly 8:47. May Parker hung up.”

“8:47?! He’s never done patrolling that early,” Tony sighs. Peter never goes home before ten during the week. He’s constantly arguing that he needs to be out until at least eleven because in his words “Bad guys don’t have curfews.” So for the kid to be home before nine, something must be going on. And his bet is that’s the reason why May is calling him this early in the morning.

“FRI, call May back.”

“Calling, May Parker.”

She picks up on the first ring. “It’s about damn time, Stark.”

Worry pools in his gut. May’s voice is a mix of frustration (at him no doubt, hopefully it’s because he didn’t pick up when she called and not for something else) and more alarming, worry.

“Good Morning to you too, May.”

“I need you to get a car here to take Peter back to the compound.”

“Why?” Tony asks. He grimaces when he hears who is assumes Peter letting out a harsh bout of coughing. “What’s going on with the kid? Why does he need to come to the compound?”

May sighs. “I need you to have your fancy medical staff that you keep on call to check him out.”

“Is he okay?” Tony asks. “I had FRIDAY run through his suit’s footage last night and nothing came up. Did—”

“Tony,” May cuts him off. “He’ll be okay, I just want to have him checked out to be on the safe side.”

Tony lets out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. If May says Peter is going to be fine, the kid is going to be fine. She wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t the case.

“Okay, I’ll have Happy come get you guys.”

“Great, I’ll pack us bag. Oh and Stark?”

“Yeah, May?”

“You and Happy has had your measles vaccine?”

**XXXXX**

A little under three hours later, Tony is waiting by the private entrance of the compound when he sees Happy pulling in with the Parkers.

“Measles? Really?!” Tony yells as a tired looking May opens the front passenger side door. “I never took you as an anti-vaxxer, May.”

“I’m not. Besides, his parents had him vaccinated when he was a kid,” May explains with a clearly aggravated tone. “I got an alert that there was a case in his school. He must have picked it up there.”

Tony walks towards the rear of the car, where Happy has already opened the backdoor. “Well, if he got his shots then how the hell did, he get them?”

“I don’t know. Why do you think I brought him here? I couldn’t risk bringing him to Presbyterian or another hospital with his spider-mutated DNA. But I don’t get it. Like I said, he had all his vaccinations. But he has all the classic signs of the measles. Rash. Cough. Fatigue. Fever. It’s like looking at one of my case studies in one of my old nursing textbooks,” May says as he rubs her forehead. “Do you think it has to do with his... Spidery-ness?”

“Could be. I don’t know,” Tony says.

“You don’t know?” May repeats. “I thought you knew everything about his…condition. I mean you sure as hell knew a lot more about his shenanigans before I did,” May finishes in a frustrated huff.

Tony holds up his hands. “It’s gonna be okay, May. We’ll sort this out and the kid will be good to go in no time.”

“Good, now can you help me get the kid?” Happy calls from the back of the car as he attempts to get Peter out of the vehicle.

“Move aside, Hap.” Tony says when he sees his head of security wrestling with a pair of gangly arms. Peter is not having it as he scrambles away from his mentor. Tony turns around to May. “How high is his fever? Is he even lucid?”

“I don’t know,” May says. “It was 102 at the apartment but that was before we left. And I forgot the thermometer at home.”

“He was pretty restless, Tony.” Happy says. “Sweating all over the place.”

“I bet he was. I would be too if I was running a fever high enough to start melting my brain,” Tony says as he reaches again for one of Peter’s arms. This time successfully. “Easy, kid. It’s just me.”

“Mist’r Stark?” Peter asks through fever bright eyes. Tony can’t help but grimace when he sees how red and irritated the kid’s eyes are. Pink eye. Another sign of measles. May is right the kid has all the textbook symptoms. “I don’t feel good.”

“I know kid,” Tony soothes as he starts to pull Peter towards him. “Happy, give me your watch.”

“My watch?” Happy asks. “You just gave it to me last month for my birthday.”

“And I’ll give it right back. I just need it for a second.”

It takes Tony a few seconds to find a spot on the kid’s wrist that is not completely covered in the red, blotchy rash. The kid still lets out a moan when Tony places the watch on the kid.

“Oh man! I’m going to have to get a new one now,” Happy says. “We don’t even know what he has. We only think it’s the measles. What if it’s something worse.”

May lets out a gasp. “Don’t…Don’t say that.”

“Shut up. I’ll get you a new one. I just want to get the kid’s temp,” Tony says as he takes a good look at his kid. Peter’s a mess. He’s pale under the rash that’s covering his skin. His hair is curlier than usual probably because of the sweat and his shoulders are slumped. Tony doesn’t think he has ever seen the kid look so exhausted. 

“Sorry,” Happy apologizes.

“It’s okay,” May says quietly. “We’re all a little out of sorts right now.”

Just then Happy’s watch beeps. Tony looks at the reading.

“What is it?” May asks.

“103.5,” Tony says with urgency as he tries to pull Peter up. “Happy help me get him out of the car.”

“103 isn’t too bad. It’s not good, but it’s not too bad,” Happy says in confusion as he gets on the other side of Peter.

“Yeah, normally you’re right. But the kid runs colder with his freaky spider DNA. 103 to him is like 106 to us.”

“Not a fr-freak,” Peter mutters as his chin dips down onto this chest.

“No you’re not, baby.” May says as she shoots both Tony and Happy a glare as she walks in front of them.

“Shit,” Happy says as they make their way towards Med Bay.

**XXXXX**

Luckily, Helen was giving a lecture on some new gene theory at Colombia and was able to get to the Compound in a relatively short amount of time. It took just a couple of minutes after her arrival to make her diagnosis. May was right. It’s measles. Not some strange spider-flu. KInda of a blessing and a curse. It’s good that they know what it is. But it also sucks because there is no treatment for the actual measles virus. You have to pretty much let the virus run its course and treat the symptoms. Which basically means IV fluids, fever reducers, and lots of rest.

Which is exactly what Peter is when getting when Tony walks into Med Bay nearly 24 hours after a confused, and fever-ridden Spider-kid showed up at the Compound

“Hey,” a somewhat-rested May greets from Peter’s bedside.

“Morning,” Tony says handing her a cup of coffee. “How’s our boy doing?”

“Better,” May says as she takes a sip of her warm beverage. “Helen says here are no signs of pneumonia and his fever is coming down. It was a little under 102 when she last checked.”

No pneumonia. That’s good. Actually, that’s very good. Tony has been reading up on measles ever since May first called and said she thought Peter has contracted the virus. Apparently, pneumonia is one of the worst and sometimes fetal complication of measles.

“So they think the spider bite did something to his immunity?” May asks.

Tony takes the empty seat beside her. “That’s the theory. Helen thinks that the spider bite mutated his acquired immunity in some way. Basically making all the vaccinations he has received null and void. It’s just a theory right now though. That’s why she took some blood samples.”

“So he kicks the asthma and glasses and now has no immunity to the flu, mumps, and everything else he has been vaccinated against. Great,” May says as she takes another long sip of her coffee.

“At least we have an idea of what’s going on now,” Tony says. “And Helen’s on it. She’ll have this figured out in no time. And now that she has some blood samples, she can also manufacture some fever reducers and other anti-biotics that can work with his metabolism. He’ll be up and back to patrolling in no time.”

May nods and gives him a smile. “Thanks, Tony. For everything. I don’t know what I would have done if Peter didn’t know you. What would I have done if I couldn’t bring him here? I know that a lot of times I give you the impression that I’m not thrilled about your relationship with Peter, but I am grateful for it.”

This is probably the nicest thing that May has ever said to him. He honestly doesn’t know what to sat. But luckily, he doesn’t have to say anything when he hears a soft moan and rustling of sheets coming from the hospital bed.

Sure enough, two fever bright eyes are looking at May and Tony.

“Hey, baby,” May as she runs her hand through Peter’s curls, careful to avoid the rash that’s particularly prevalent along his hairline.

“Yeah, kiddo. You with us?” Tony asks as he squeezes the teenager’s blanket-covered foot.

“’hink so,” Peter says in a congested voice. He looks around the somewhat familiar room. He’s been to the Med Bay more times than both May and Tony would h}ave liked. “At the compound?”

“Are you asking or telling?” Tony asks. “How much damage did that fever do?”

May slaps Tony in the ribs lightly before she turns her attention back to her nephew. “What do you remember, Pete?”

Peter closes his eyes as he tries to concentrate. “You trying to get me up. Told me two more minutes.”

“That was yesterday morning, bud.” May explains. “Happy brought you to the Compound. You’ve been sleeping pretty much since we got here.”

May leaves out the part of how bad the car ride upstate was. Happy told Tony how Peter was moaning in pain and was pretty restless the whole ride up. Calling out for his parents. Ben. May. Tony. She doesn’t talk how they had to have one of the bots bring down a wheelchair when Peter couldn’t take another step on the way towards Med Bay. May also leaves out the part where Tony had to help Helen and May strip the teenager down to his underwear before they put him in a cooling bath to lower his temp when it got up to 104.3.

“I get hurt?” Peter asks. His still redden eyes look to them in a panic.

“No, Peter,” May replies. “You’re sick.”

“I am?” Peter asks. “What?”

Man the kid is so out of it.

“You got the measles, Underoos.” Tony says.

“Measles? How?” Peter asks in alarm. He turns his head towards his aunt. “May are you an anti-vaxxer?”

Tony can’t help but let out a laugh at the kid’s question. Of course the teenager wasn’t lucid enough to bear witness to Tony asking May the exact same thing the day before. May slaps him in the ribs again.

“No, baby. I’m not. The spider bite did something to your immunity. Basically made your MMR vaccine null and void.”

“Oh,” Peter says as he relaxes against his pillows again.

“How you feeling, Pete?” Tony asks.

“Tired, sore.” Peter says, his eyes already closing. “Head feels stuffed up.”

“Go to sleep, baby. We’ll be right here when you wake up.” May says as she continues running her hand through Peter’s curls, careful to avoid the knotted ones. Peter sighs contently as he leans into her touch, his body instantly relaxing as he drifts back to sleep.

“You’re going to tell him that he’ll probably need all his vaccines again?” Tony asks.

May shrugs her shoulders. “Sure, why not.”

Tony leans back in his chair. Man that was easy. He thought for sure that May would fight him on it. Peter hates needles. He had to help Helen dodge the kid’s flailing arms the day before when the doctor went to start an IV. “Thanks, May.”

Even though she’s looking at Peter, Tony can see her smiling. “Besides, you’re the one who’s gonna be there when he actually gets them.”

“Wait. What? You’re his aunt,” Tony begins to protest.

“Save it, Stark. It’s the least you owe me after you kept the whole Spider-Man thing from me for months. You can’t just be the parent who is here for the good stuff. You have to be here for the not too good parts too. That’s what it means to be a parent.”

Tony looks at Peter as he continues sleeping. His body still extremely pale, but not as alarmingly as it was yesterday. Yes, the rash is still looking painful but it seems to have stopped spreading. His chest is rising and falling with the slow even breaths mixed with more congestion than Tony would like. There's no denying that the kid is still sick, but he's on the mend. May is right. Parents are not just there for the good, but also when things are anything but and everything else in between.

“You’re right, May. That’s what a parent does.”


End file.
